// Trip Reports  

Report name	Journey of a Lifetime fundraising expedition
Date submitted	May-09

A team of British ladies from the charity ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ became the first team of non-raft experts to descend the Kuamut river in the Malaysian state of Sabah, North Borneo last week.
It being only the second time that the river had been run, the team faced conditions and difficulties that could not be accurately predicted. A log-jam and 10 metre waterfall had to be overcome as well as wild camping in sites where elephant and Leopard footprints were evident, not for the feint hearted!

Prior to the rafting the team had trekked through the Maliau Basin to get to the river, a four day trek through the ‘Lost World’, a mostly unexplored wilderness of pristine virgin rainforest that is usually only visited by scientists. Using a trail that had long since been destroyed by landslides they descended hand over hand down ropes and clambered over giant fallen trees. All this in leech infested jungle.

The final day of the expedition proved to be the most challenging with a ten-hour paddle on mostly flat water we then had a nighttime transfer by power boat for 6 hours along the Kinabatangan river, a river famed for its crocodiles, through a huge storm! The day lasted from 06.00 until 02.30 the next day and the team managed it all with smiles and songs!

An excellent and exciting expedition was had by all!